Shoulderless garment with supporter



g- 1953 P. R. SWEARINGEN SHOULDERLESS GARMENT WITH SUPPORTER 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 25, 1951 llIlJ INVENTOR.

Paul R. S wewring'en BY wgg ATTORNEYS P. R. SWEARINGEN SHOULDERLESSGARMENT WITH SUPPORTER Aug. 25, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed 001;. 23.1951 n W a mw Z ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 25, 1953 SHOULDERLESS GARMENTWITH SUPPORTER Paul R. Swearingen, Kensington, Ohio, assignor to GeorgeH. Bowman, Jr., Salem, Ohio Application October 23, 1951, Serial No.252,600

3 Claims. (01. 2-52) The invention relates to an improved shoulderlessgarment of the type which is provided with a prehensile springsupporter, and the present application is a continuation in part of mycopending application, Ser. No. 115,477, filed September 13, 1949, nowabandoned.

Although the invention is especially adapted for use upon aprons of alldescriptions, it is also applicable to various other types ofshoulderless garments, such as dresses, frocks or gowns, bathing suits,and the like.

The invention has as an object the provision of a specially constructedshoulderless garment with a prehensile spring supporter detachablyconnected to the interior of the garment and adapted to resilientlyengage the waist and chest of the wearer, to hold the garment in properposition upon the body of the wearer, without the aid of sleeves,shoulder straps or other means for supporting the bib, or upper portionof the garment over the bosom of the wearer, without danger of injury tothe wearer or the garment.

Another object is to provide such a garment and spring supporter whichmay be quickly and easily put on or removed, so that in the event of anapron or the like, made in accordance with the invention, catching fireor becoming caught in moving machinery, it may be removed in a fractionof a second, since there are no strings to untie, or buttons or otherfastening devices to unfasten.

A further object of the invention is to provide a garment of thecharacter referred to, having an open-ended casing or tubular pocket atits upper edge, to receive a portion of the spring supporter, and havinga similar casing at the front of the waist portion and pockets at theback of the waist portion for receiving other portions of the springsupporter, whereby the spring supporter may be detachably assembledwithin the garment for use, and may be removed therefrom to permitwashing or cleaning of the garment.

A still further object is to provide a spring supporter formed of asingle spring wire, the central portion of which is formed intosubstantially an inverted Ushape, for connection to the bib, or upperfront portion of the garment, opposite ends of the spring wire beingcurved rearwardly to be received in the pockets at the rear of thegarment, and then curved forwardly, terminating at points slightlyspaced from each other and adapted to be received within the open-endedcasing, or tubular pocket, within the waist portion of the garment.

The above objects together with others which will be apparent from thedrawings and following description, or which may be later referred to,may be attained by constructing the improved shoulderless garment andsupporter in the manner hereinafter described in detail and illustratedin the accompanying drawings, in which;

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the prehensile spring supporterforming a part of the invention;

Fig. 2 a side elevation of the spring supporter;

Fig. 3 an inside plan view of a workmans apron constructed in accordancewith the invention, with the spring supporter removed therefrom;

Fig. 4 a front perspective view of a Workmans apron and spring supporterembodying the invention, showing the garment as it appears upon thwearer;

Fig. 5 a rear perspective view of the garment shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 a front perspective view, similar to Fig. 4, showing an apron ofthe type worn by housewives with the spring supporter associatedtherewith;

Fig. '7 a rear perspective view of the apron and supporter shown in Fig.6;

Fig. 8 a front perspective view of a sunback dress or the like embodyingthe invention;

Fig. 9 a rear perspective view of the dress shown in Fig. 8; and

Fig. 10 a front perspective view of a bathing suit embodying theinvention.

Referring first to the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to5, the invention is illustrated as applied to a workmans apron l5 havingthe bib portion H5, at the upper end of which is provided the open-endedcasing or tubular pocket [1.

A similar open-ended casing or tubular pocket r8, preferably of greaterlength than the casing I1, is located within the front portion of theapron at the waist line, and at each side edge of the apron,substantially in line with the easing l8, a relatively small pocket I9is provided, closed at its outer end and preferably adapted to beadjusted as to length by means of the snap fastener 20 adapted forengagement with any one of the plurality of snap fasteners 2|, fordifferent waist sizes.

From an inspection of Fig. 3, it will be obvious that with the pockets[9 in normal position, as shown at the left side of said figure, thepockets I9, as well as the waist line of the garment, are of greatestlength. By folding the outer end of each pocket I9 upon itself so as toconnect the snap fastener with the outermost snap fastener 2i, asindicated at the right side of Fig. 3, the pockets I9 and waist line ofthe garment will both be somewhat shortened.

In like manner, both the pockets I9 and waist line may be furthershortened by connecting the snap fasteners 20 with the intermediate snapfasteners 2|, and the minimum' length of pockets and waist line may beobtained by connecting the snap fasteners 20 with the innermost snapfasteners 2 I.

It will be evident that as the waist line of the garment is thus reducedor increased, to accommodate the wearer, the terminal ends 21 of thespring wire supporter are free to move toward or from each other in theopen-ended casing I8 at the front of the garment. g i

The supporter, best shown in Figs. 1 and 2, is in the form of aprehensile spring member made of a single length of spring wire,including the intermediate, inverted, U-shaped portion 22 with forwardlydisposed, substantially horizontal intermediate upper portion 23,adapted to be received within the casing or tubular pocket I? at theupper edge of the bib portion I6 of the apron.

On each side of this inverted U-shaped portion, the wire is curveddownward and rearward, as at 24, and thence in the opposite direction,as at 25, forming reversely bent rounded terminal ends to be received inthe pockets I9 of the apron, and then curved forwardly, in asubstantially horizontal plane, as at 26, terminating in the spacedapart terminal eyes or loops 21, for reception through opposite openends of the casing or tubular pocket I8 at the front of the waistportion of the apron.

When the spring supporter is thus detachably connected to the apron I5,and the apron is positioned upon the body of a wearer, as shown in Figs.4 and 5, it will be seen that the intermediate horizontal portion 23 ofthe spring supporter will fit across the chest of the wearer; thedownwardly and rearwardly curved portions 24 of the spring supporterextend along the sides of the bib portion I6 of the apron and grasp thesides of the wearers body, the reversely curved terminal portions 25thereof fitting around the back of the wearer near the waist line,holding the bib portion of the apron in place against the front of thewearers body and holding opposite side portions of the apron together atthe back of the wearers body, while the forwardly curved terminalportions 26 of the spring supporter, located within the casing I8 of theapron, hold the front portion of the apron around the wearers waist. 1

With an apron andsupporter of this type, it will be seen that it is onlynecessary to flex the curved portion 24 of the supporter apart in orderthat the spring member is properly positioned upon the body of thewearer, and that in the case of an emergency, such as the apron catchingfire or being caught in a piece of moving machinery, it may be instantlyremoved from the body of the wearer in a single movement, since thereare no strings to untie, or buttons or other fastening devices tounfasten. This is a highly important safet factor of the garment andsupporter embodying the invention. a

When the apron provided with this spring supporter is worn it willremain in proper position upon the wearers body permitting freedom ofmovement in any direction without dislodging the apron.

In Figs. 6 and 7 is shown the application of the invention to a Woman'sapron, such as may be worn as a housewife. The apron, indicatedgenerally at I5a, may be of any conventional type provided with a bib orupper portion I611, having an open-ended casing or tubular pocket IIa atits upper edge, an open-ended casing or tubular pocket I8a on its innerside around the waist line, and the relatively short pockets I9a at eachside edge, substantially in line with the casing I8a and adapted to belocated slightly spaced apart at the back, as shown in Fig. 7.

.The spring supporter may be the same as shown in Fig. l, and is adaptedto be detachably connected to the inner side of the apron in the 'mannerillustrated and described with reference to Figs. 4 and 5 thehorizontal, intermediate portion 23 thereof being received within theupper open-ended casing IIa, the return bent terminals :25 beingreceived in the pockets I9a at the back of the apron, and the terminalends 21 being received in the open-ended casing IBa in the front of theapron.

Thus the apron is detachably supported upon the body of the wearer andflexibly or resiliently held in place over the bosom and around thewaist, permitting free movement of the body without accidentallydisplacing the apron, and at the same time permitting the apron to beinstantly removed in case of an emergency.

In Figs. 8 and 9 the invention is shown as applied to the dress orfrock, such as a sunback dress indicated generally at I5b, having theupper front portion IBb provided with the openended casing or tubularpocket I'Ib at its upper edge, to receive the horizontal, intermediateportion 23 of the wire supporter, the relatively small pockets I311 atthe back, to receive the return bent terminals 25 of the wire supporter,and the open-ended casing or tubular pocket I8b within the front of thegarment at the waist line, to receive the terminal ends 21 of thesupporter.

The garment is thus resiliently held snugly in position upon the body ofthe wearer, the upper portion I'b thereof being held over the bosom ofthe wearer without the use of shoulder straps, sleeves or the like.

In Fig. 10 is shown the application of the invention to a bathing suitindicated generally at I5c, the upper front portion IBc thereof beingstrapless and having the reversely curved upper edge I6, around which islocated the similarly shaped open-ended casing or tubular pocket He.

The wire supporter used for this bathing suit may be the same asshown'in Fig. 1, with the exception that the intermediate portion 23c isreversely curved so as to be' received within the casing I'Ic.- r

The return bent terminals 21 of the supporter are received withinpockets (not shown) located in the back of the garment and similar tothe pockets I9, I9a and I9b in Figs. 5, '7 and 9 respectively.

An open-ended casing or tubular pocket I is formed within the frontportion of the bathing suit, at the waist line; to receive the terminalsends 25 of the supporter.- The bathing suit is thus held snugly upon thebody of the wearer, the upper portion I60 thereof being held in positionwithout the use of shoulder straps or the like.

It will thus be evident that the combination shoulderless garment andsupporter are adapted to carry out the objects of the invention, thesupporter effectively holding the garment in proper position upon thebody of the wearer and permitting free movement of the body when beingworn, the construction of both the garment and supporter being verysimple and the supporter being adapted to be readily assembled to orremoved from the garment, and in the case of an apron, the supporterpermitting instant removal of the apron in the event of an emergency.

In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity,clearness, and understanding, but no unnecessary limitations are to beimplied therefrom beyond the requirements of the prior art, because suchwords are used for descriptive purposes herein and are intended to bebroadly construed.

Moreover, the embodiments of the improved construction illustrated anddescribed herein are by way of example, and the scope of the presentinvention is not limited to the exact details of construction.

Having now described the invention or discovery, the construction, theoperation, and use of preferred embodiments thereof, and theadvantageous new and useful results obtained thereby; the new and usefulconstructions, and reasonable mechanical equivalents thereof obvious tothose skilled in the art, are set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination with a shoulderless garment comprising a netherportion having a pair of adjacent inside pockets at the back and nearthe waist line which are open at their inner ends only, and an upperfront portion having a casing along its upper edge which is open at itsends, and an inside casing at the front of the garment near the waistline which is open at its ends, a supporter for the garment comprising aprehensile spring member made of a single spring wire including anintermediate inverted U-shaped portion having a forwardly curvedintermediate portion removably seated in said first named casing andadapted to fit across the chest of the wearer, downwardly and rearwardlycurved side portions constituting continuations of opposite ends of saidinverted U- shaped portions and adapted to grip the sides of the wearersbody, lateral rearwardly curved portions constituting continuations ofsaid side portions and which extend toward each other to fit around theback of the wearer near the waist line, reversely bent terminal portionsconstituting continuations of said rearwardly curved portions and whichare seated in the pockets of the nether portion and lateral forwardlycurved terminal end portions constituting continuations of saidreversely bent terminal portions and which extend toward each other tofit around the waist line of the wearer and are removably seated in saidsecond named casing.

2. In combination with a shoulderless garment comprising a netherportion having a pair of adjacent inside pockets at the back and nearthe waist line which are open at their inner ends only, means foradjusting the length of said pockets to adjust the length of the waistline of the garment, and an upper front portion having a casing alongits upper edge which is open at its ends, and an inside casing at thefront of the garment near the waist line which is open at its ends, asupporter for the garment comprising a prehensile spring member made ofa single spring wire including an intermediate inverted U-shaped portionhaving a forwardly curved intermediate portion removably seated in saidfirst named casing, and adapted to fit across the chest of the wearer,downwardly and rearwardly curved side portions constitutingcontinuations of opposite ends of said inverted U- shaped portion andadapted to grip the sides of the wearers body, lateral rearwardly curvedportions constituting continuations of said side portions and whichextend toward each other to fit around the back or" the wearer near thewaist line, reversely bent terminal portions constituting continuationsof said rearwardly curved portions and which are seated in the pocketsof the nether portion and lateral forwardly curved terminal end portionsconstituting continuations of said reversely bent terminal portions andwhich extend toward each other to fit around the waist line of thewearer and are removably seated in said second named casing.

3. A supporter for shoulderless garments, said supporter comprising asingle spring wire including an intermediate inverted U-shaped portionhaving a forwardly curved intermediate portion adapted to be seated in ahorizontally elongated open-ended casing at the top of the front portionof a garment, downwardly and rear wardly curved side portionsconstituting continuations of opposite ends of said inverted U-shapedportion, lateral rearwardly curved portions constituting continuationsof said side portions and which extend toward each other, reversely bentterminal portions constituting continuations of said rearwardly curvedportions and which are adapted to be seated in pockets at the back of agarment near the waist line thereof, and lateral forwardly curvedterminal end portions constituting continuations of said reversely bentterminal portions and which extend toward each other and are adapted tobe seated in an openended casing in the front of a garment near thewaist line thereof.

PAUL R. SWEARINGEN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 2,343,631 Bailey Mar. '7, 1944 2,421,195 Goldsmith May 27,1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 27,144 Great Britain Nov. 25,1913

